A bitter political row has broken out over the closure of a popular Islington nursery, after Green councillors accused the Labour-run town hall of sitting on the news until after May’s local elections — a charge furiously denied by the cabinet member for children’s services.
The fate of the nursery provision at Paradise Park Children’s Centre dominated last Thursday’s full council meeting, on 24 September, where councillors debated a petition calling for the closure to be halted. The nursery shut its doors on 22 July after its operator, the Islington Play Association (IPA), surrendered its contract amid financial turmoil at the charity.
Green councillor Carlos Valero told the chamber he found it “curious” that “the decision was communicated to the public 13 days after an election in a ward which only needed a few hundred votes to swing Green.”
Labour won the borough elections on 8 May, but lost 12 seats while the Greens picked up 16 new councillors — a result that has sharpened scrutiny of the administration’s decisions in the months since.
Responding, Labour’s executive member for children, schools and families, Cllr Sheila Chapman, said: “What an unhelpful contribution. And how dare you suggest that this administration is trying to sweep things under the carpet.”
Chapman insisted the closure was not the council’s doing. The town hall said in a now-removed public post on 20 May that it had “reluctantly agreed to the trustees’ request” to close the nursery at the end of the summer term — and she later revealed that IPA had told the council as long ago as December 2025 that it could no longer run the nursery for financial reasons.
“I don’t know how else to say this: this was a unilateral decision due to financial circumstances taken by a third-party provider. So once again, not the council’s decision,” she told the chamber.
IPA has disputed that the closure was proposed by its trustees and said “allegations of financial mismanagement are also unfounded”, while acknowledging it faced serious financial pressures and declining to comment further.
Green councillor Janet Falkenberg called for a full review to understand the “human cost” of the shutdown. Chapman refused, insisting the council had been fully transparent but that the Greens “simply don’t like the answers”.
The cabinet member argued it would “not have been right” for the borough “to throw some money towards IPA” after the charity said it was facing insolvency — and that opening a new council-run nursery would “not have been prudent use of public money when there were sufficient childcare places” elsewhere in the borough. The council has since set up temporary childcare provision at the Paradise Park site, and Chapman added she had yet to hear from anyone still struggling to find a place, urging anyone in that position to come forward.
Many parents had lobbied the council to keep the nursery open, describing Paradise Park as “wonderful and caring” and warning of a shortage of affordable alternatives. Parent Johnny Singer told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “There aren’t – not for months, not at a price most of our families can afford, and not for children with additional needs.”
In May, parents staged a “protest picnic” outside Islington Town Hall — the civic headquarters at the heart of the council’s pledge to turn every Islington neighbourhood liveable by 2030 — as reported in detail by the EC1 Echo’s local democracy reporter.
A group of parents mounted a legal challenge, arguing the council had breached its statutory duty to ensure enough childcare for borough families. The High Court threw the case out in July, with Mrs Justice Eady ruling it “totally without merit”.
Why the Islington nursery closure still stings
Behind the political row lies a familiar story for early-years providers. IPA told the council in December 2025 that it could no longer afford to run the nursery, and has since acknowledged serious financial pressures — though it rejects claims of mismanagement and disputes that its own trustees proposed the closure. The council, for its part, says bailing out an operator facing insolvency would not have been right, and maintains there are enough childcare places elsewhere in the borough. Parents disagree, pointing to months-long waits and prices many local families cannot afford.
The dispute also comes amid wider pressure on the capital’s schools, with a mayoral charter credited with driving school exclusions to half the national average and a record 1,057 London schools recognised for greener, safer journeys.
What happens next
For families still hunting for a place, the temporary childcare provision remains open at the Paradise Park site. Chapman’s message to anyone still struggling: come forward and tell the town hall.
How the row unfolded
- December 2025: IPA tells the council it can no longer run the nursery for financial reasons.
- 8 May 2026: Labour wins the borough elections but loses 12 seats; the Greens gain 16 councillors.
- 20 May: The council says it “reluctantly agreed” to the closure in a public post, later removed.
- 27 May: Parents hold a “protest picnic” outside Islington Town Hall.
- July: The nursery closes on 22 July; the High Court rejects the parents’ judicial review.
- 24 September: The row erupts at a full council meeting as a petition to halt the closure is debated.
